US9182471B2 - Sun tracking method and sun tracking system - Google Patents

Sun tracking method and sun tracking system Download PDF

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US9182471B2
US9182471B2 US13/353,311 US201213353311A US9182471B2 US 9182471 B2 US9182471 B2 US 9182471B2 US 201213353311 A US201213353311 A US 201213353311A US 9182471 B2 US9182471 B2 US 9182471B2
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photovoltaic cell
cell device
short
circuit current
sun
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US20120193512A1 (en
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Jiunn-Chi WU
Chih-Kuang Lin
Pi-cheng Tung
Wei-Hann YAO
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National Central University
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National Central University
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S3/00—Direction-finders for determining the direction from which infrasonic, sonic, ultrasonic or electromagnetic waves, or particle emission, not having a directional significance, are being received
    • G01S3/78—Direction-finders for determining the direction from which infrasonic, sonic, ultrasonic or electromagnetic waves, or particle emission, not having a directional significance, are being received using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
    • G01S3/782—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction
    • G01S3/785—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction using adjustment of orientation of directivity characteristics of a detector or detector system to give a desired condition of signal derived from that detector or detector system
    • G01S3/786—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction using adjustment of orientation of directivity characteristics of a detector or detector system to give a desired condition of signal derived from that detector or detector system the desired condition being maintained automatically
    • G01S3/7861—Solar tracking systems
    • F24J2/38—
    • F24J2/542—
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S30/00—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules
    • F24S30/40—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules for rotary movement
    • F24S30/45—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules for rotary movement with two rotation axes
    • F24S30/452—Vertical primary axis
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S50/00—Arrangements for controlling solar heat collectors
    • F24S50/20—Arrangements for controlling solar heat collectors for tracking
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05D—SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
    • G05D3/00—Control of position or direction
    • G05D3/10—Control of position or direction without using feedback
    • G05D3/105—Solar tracker
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02S—GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES
    • H02S20/00—Supporting structures for PV modules
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02S—GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES
    • H02S20/00—Supporting structures for PV modules
    • H02S20/30—Supporting structures being movable or adjustable, e.g. for angle adjustment
    • H02S20/32—Supporting structures being movable or adjustable, e.g. for angle adjustment specially adapted for solar tracking
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/40—Solar thermal energy, e.g. solar towers
    • Y02E10/47—Mountings or tracking
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to a sun tracking method and a sun tracking system. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a sun tracking method and a sun tracking system that is able to continuously track the position of the sun without additional light sensors, calculation of the solar orbit function, regular calibration of the mechanical structure of the sun tracking system regularly or precise initial installation of the sun tracking system.
  • Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system is a conventional photovoltaic device that uses optical devices to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto the photovoltaic cells.
  • the method of concentrating the sunlight reduces the area of the photovoltaic cells and makes the CPV system cost-effective.
  • it makes the CPV system become sensitive to the incident angle of the sunlight as well.
  • the further reduction of the area of the photovoltaic cells adapted in the highly concentrated photovoltaic system makes the offset of the tracking angle that is tolerable by the light-concentrating module reduced at the same time. Accordingly, the precision of the tracking system becomes more and more important.
  • a tracking device is necessary to be adapted to the light-concentrating module to modulate the axis of the light-concentrating module toward the sun.
  • the tracking device performs the tracking mechanism in cooperation with the sensing device.
  • the sensing device makes use of a plurality of light sensors disposed in different places and the pillars that o generate shadows to make the light incident to the light sensors uneven.
  • the uneven incident light results in different voltage outputs generated by the light sensors.
  • the direction of the incident light that has the highest intensity can hence be determined by the voltage values of the voltage outputs.
  • sensors such as optical conductors, photodiodes, phototransistors and photovoltaic cells.
  • Each of the light sensors generates a corresponding short-circuit current according to the intensity of the incident sunlight, where the short-circuit current becomes larger when the intensity of the sunlight becomes higher. The amount of the short-circuit current is then outputted in a voltage form.
  • FIG. 1 is a 3-D view of a conventional sun tracking system.
  • the conventional sun tracking system is a CPV system having a photovoltaic cell device 11 , an attitude control device 12 , a light-sensing device 13 and a micro-control device 14 .
  • the micro-control device 14 is coupled to the attitude control device 12 and the light-sensing device 13 .
  • the attitude control device 12 has an azimuth angle control unit 121 and an elevation angle control unit 122 to adjust the attitude (including an azimuth angle and an elevation angle) of the photovoltaic cell device 11 .
  • the light-sensing device 13 keeps sensing the intensity of the light incident thereon.
  • the micro-control device 14 drives a motor driving device to drive a motor in the attitude control device 12 according to the light-sensing result to adjust the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 11 and the light-sensing device 13 .
  • a time-consuming initial calibration is needed when the light-sensing device is adapted to make the four (or a plurality of) light sensors of the light-sensing device generate the same amount of output voltage/current when the photovoltaic cell device 11 faces directly to the sun.
  • the mechanical structure of the system may be damaged, deformed or loosened due to the environmental effect to change the relative position of the photovoltaic cell device 11 and the light-sensing device 13 .
  • the light sensors of the light-sensing device 13 deteriorate over time since they are under the sun for a long time. Accordingly, the direction of the incident light having the highest intensity detected by the light-sensing device 13 may not correspond to the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 11 that can receive the largest amount of sunlight. Comparing to the initial state of the sun tracking system, the efficiency of the conventional sun tracking system degrades more when the operation time is longer.
  • some conventional sun tracking systems use complex solar orbit function to calculate the position of the sun to adjust the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the result of the calculation of the complex solar orbit function is reliable only when the initial position of the sun is extremely precise. If an offset of the initial position is present, the error is generated in the calculation result. Therefore, a precise initial setting of the architecture and the position of the system is unavoidable in such a kind of to conventional sun tracking systems. The installation cost of the conventional sun tracking systems thus increases.
  • a sun tracking method and a sun tracking system that is able to continuously track the position of the sun without additional light sensors, calculation of the solar orbit function, regular calibration of the mechanical structure of the sun tracking system regularly or precise initial installation of the sun tracking system.
  • a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) device is installed.
  • the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) device has a voltage-increasing circuit or a voltage-increasing/decreasing circuit.
  • a measurement of the voltage, current or power is performed to generate a feedback signal to control the power transistors of the voltage-increasing circuit or the voltage-increasing/decreasing circuit such that the photovoltaic cell device can always generate the maximum output power after the photovoltaic conversion no matter what the condition of the illumination of the sunlight and the load is.
  • the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell or the output power of the photovoltaic cell is also at the maximum value when the photovoltaic cell device faces directly to the sun.
  • An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a sun tracking method adapted in a sun tracking system.
  • the sun tracking system comprises a photovoltaic cell device, an attitude control device, a short-circuit current sensing device, a maximum power tracking control device, a motor-driving to device and a control unit such as a micro-controller, a computer or a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), wherein the maximum power tracking control device at least comprises a switch power unit such as MOSFET or IGBT.
  • PLC Programmable Logic Controller
  • the motor-driving device is droved to further drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device is sensed and recorded by a short-circuit current sensing device continuously, in cooperation with the switching behavior of the switch power unit of the maximum power tracking control device.
  • a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current is calculated with the control unit.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the sun tracking system comprises a photovoltaic cell device, an attitude control device, a short-circuit current sensing device, a maximum power tracking control device, a motor-driving device and a control unit such as a micro-controller, a computer or a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
  • the photovoltaic cell device comprises a plurality of photovoltaic cells.
  • the attitude control device is adapted to the photovoltaic cell device to control the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the short-circuit current sensing device is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device to sense a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the maximum power tracking control device is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device to track a maximum power of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the motor-driving device is adapted to the attitude control device to drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the control unit is coupled to the short-circuit current sensing device, the maximum power tracking control device and the motor-driving device.
  • the control unit drives the motor-driving device to further drive the motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and the short-circuit current sensing device senses and records a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device continuously in cooperation with the switching behavior of the power unit of the maximum power tracking control device, the control unit further calculates a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current to drive the motor-driving device to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the sun tracking system comprises a photovoltaic cell device, an attitude control device, a short-circuit current sensing device, a motor-driving device and a control unit such as a micro-controller, a computer or a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), wherein the short-circuit current sensing device at least comprises a switch power unit such as MOSFET or IGBT and a current-sensing circuit unit.
  • the sun tracking method comprises the steps as follows.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to further drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device is sensed directly without in cooperation with the switching behavior of the power unit of the maximum power tracking control device and recorded by using the short-circuit current sensing device at a moment when the switch power unit forms a closed circuit.
  • a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current is calculated with the control unit.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the sun tracking system comprises a photovoltaic cell device, an attitude control device, a maximum power tracking control device, a motor-driving device and a control unit, wherein the maximum power tracking control device at least comprises a switch power unit such as MOSFET or IGBT and a current, voltage or power sensing device.
  • the sun tracking method comprises the steps as follows. (A) The motor-driving device is droved to further drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and the current, voltage or power of the maximum power tracking control device is sensed and recorded by the current, voltage or power sensing device installed in the maximum power tracking control device.
  • the current and voltage need be sensed first. It is noted that the current, voltage or power of the maximum power tracking control device is corresponding to the output current, voltage or power of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • a maximum value of the recorded output power is calculated with the control unit such as a micro-controller, a computer or a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
  • PLC Programmable Logic Controller
  • the motor-driving device is droved to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the output power.
  • the sun tracking system comprises a photovoltaic cell device, an attitude control device, a short-circuit current sensing device, a motor-driving device and a control unit such as a micro-controller, a computer or a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
  • the photovoltaic cell device comprises a plurality of photovoltaic cells.
  • the attitude control device is adapted to the photovoltaic cell device to control the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the short-circuit current sensing device is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device to sense a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device, wherein the short-circuit current sensing device at least comprises a switch power unit such as MOSFET or IGBT and a current-sensing circuit unit.
  • the motor-driving device is adapted to the attitude control device to drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the control unit is coupled to the short-circuit current sensing device and the motor-driving device.
  • the control unit drives the motor-driving device to further drive the motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and the short-circuit current sensing device senses and records a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device at a moment when the switch power unit forms a closed circuit, the control unit further calculates a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current to drive the motor-driving device to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the sun tracking system comprises a photovoltaic cell device, an attitude control device, a maximum power tracking control device, a motor-driving device and a control unit such as a micro-controller, a computer or a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
  • the photovoltaic cell device comprises a plurality of photovoltaic cells.
  • the attitude control device is adapted to the photovoltaic cell device to control the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the maximum power tracking control device is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device to track a maximum power of the photovoltaic cell device, wherein the maximum power tracking control device at least comprises a switch power unit such as MOSFET or IGBT and a current, voltage or power sensing device.
  • the motor-driving device is adapted to the attitude control device to drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device.
  • the control unit is coupled to the maximum power tracking control device and the motor-driving device.
  • the control unit drives the motor-driving device to further drive the motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and the current, voltage or power of the maximum power tracking control device is sensed and recorded by the current, voltage or power sensing device installed in the maximum power tracking control device, the control unit further calculates a maximum value of the recorded output power to drive the motor-driving device to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the output power. It is noted that in order to calculate or measure the power, the current and voltage need be sensed first.
  • FIG. 1 is a 3-D view of a conventional sun tracking system
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram of the relation of the output current and the voltage of a photovoltaic cell device under an environment with a fixed temperature
  • FIG. 3A-FIG . 3 C are flow charts of the sun tracking method in different embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 4A-FIG . 4 C are block diagrams of the sun tracking system corresponding to the process of the sun tracking method depicted in FIG. 3A-FIG . 3 C respectively;
  • FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting the relation of the photovoltaic cell device, the short-circuit current sensing device and the maximum power tracking control device;
  • FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the search rule in step A of the sun tracking method depicted in FIG. 3 of an embodiment of the present disclosure
  • FIG. 7 is a flow of a search rule to perform a smaller area search after the search rule in FIG. 6 is finished;
  • FIG. 8 is a 3D view of the sun tracking system of an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 9 is a diagram depicting the relation of the photovoltaic cell device, the short-circuit current sensing device and the maximum power tracking control device.
  • the measured short-circuit current is a current that passes through an inductor.
  • the short-circuit current mentioned above is relative to the illumination of the sunlight and the offset-angle of the sun-tracking, it is affected by the loading and the duty cycle of the PWM controlled by the transistor in the DC-DC converter. Consequently, the measured short-circuit current that passes through the inductor cannot be used to track the angle of the sun (i.e. the position of the sun).
  • the short-circuit current is sensed (through a short-circuit current sensing device) when the two ends of the photovoltaic cell device is short-circuited in the sun tracking method and the sun tracking system of the present disclosure.
  • the short-circuit current does not pass through any inductor. Consequently, the short-circuit current in the sun tracking method and the sun tracking system is only relative to the illumination of the sunlight and the offset-angle of the sun-tracking and can be used to track the angle of the sun (i.e. the position of the sun).
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram of the relation of the output current and the voltage of a photovoltaic cell device under an environment with a fixed temperature.
  • the different curves depicted in FIG. 2 stand for the relation of the output current and the voltage of the photovoltaic cell device under different intensity of the sunlight, wherein the order of the intensity corresponding to the curves A, B, C and D is A>B>C>D.
  • the value of the current at the point of each of the curve (corresponding to different intensities of the sunlight) where the voltage is zero is the value of the short-circuit current of each of the curve.
  • the short-circuit current changes in accordance to the variation (such as decrease) of the illumination of the sunlight.
  • the value of the short-circuit current may change from the point of zero voltage on curve A to the point of zero voltage on curve C.
  • the value of the short-circuit current is in direct proportion to the illumination of the sunlight.
  • the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponding to the maximum short-circuit current is the attitude that can receive the sunlight with the highest intensity. In general, such an attitude is the attitude that faces directly to the sun. Therefore, by recording the short-circuit currents of the photovoltaic cell device and retrieving the maximum value among them, the position of the sun can be tracked in the sun tracking method and the sun tracking system of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C are flow charts of the sun tracking method in different embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C are block diagrams of the sun tracking system corresponding to the sun tracking method shown in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C respectively.
  • the process of the sun tracking method depicted in FIG. 3A comprises the steps as follow.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to further drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device is sensed and recorded by a short-circuit current sensing device continuously, in cooperation with the switching behavior of the power unit of the maximum power tracking control device.
  • a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current is calculated with the control unit.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the maximum power tracking control device 44 at least comprises a switch power unit 445 .
  • FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting the relation of the photovoltaic cell device 41 , the short-circuit current sensing device 43 and the maximum power tracking control device 44 .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 43 comprises at least comprises a first switch power unit 431 and a current-sensing circuit unit 432 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 44 comprises a voltage up/down adjusting circuit unit 441 having at least an inductor 442 , a capacitor 443 , a diode 444 and a second switch power unit 445 .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 43 is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device 41 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 44 is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device 41 at the other end.
  • the maximum power tracking control device 44 is coupled to a power conditioner (e.g. inverter) 47 and a load 48 to generate an output current to the load 48 .
  • the first switch power unit 431 in the short-circuit current sensing device 43 and the second switch power unit 445 in the maximum power tracking control device 44 conduct alternatively to alternatively sense and record the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 and to track a maximum power of the photovoltaic cell device 41 .
  • the sun tracking method is operated in cooperation with the voltage up/down adjusting procedure for tracking the maximum power of the photovoltaic cell device 41 adapted in the maximum power tracking control device 44 .
  • the sensing of the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 (when the first switch power unit 431 is closed and conducting) is performed during the break of the of the voltage up/down adjusting procedure (when the second switch power unit 445 is open-circuited and non-conducting).
  • the current-sensing circuit unit 432 of the short-circuit current sensing device 43 sense the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 by a resistive measurement method, a Hall effect measurement method or a CT method.
  • the advantage of the resistive measurement method is that it is simple and is suitable for both AC and DC. The disadvantage includes low output voltage, large insertion loss and difficulty of the insulation from the current.
  • the CT method is to make the under-test wire pass through a magnetic path.
  • a magnetic filed B is generated due to the presence of the current I 0 in the magnetic path to further induce an induced current at the coil on the magnetic path.
  • the resistive measurement method described above can further be used to measure the value of the induced current.
  • the difference between the CT method and the resistive measurement method is that there is no resistor directly coupled to the current I 0 during the measurement of the induced current.
  • the advantage of the CT method includes wider range of application, larger output voltage and the great quality of insulation from the current.
  • the Hall effect measurement method is similar to the CT method that makes use of the magnetic field of the magnetic path generated by the presence of the under-measured current.
  • the difference between the Hall effect measurement method and the CT method is that a space is presented in the magnetic path when the Hall effect measurement method is adapted to dispose a Hall element in said space.
  • the generated magnetic field makes the Hall element generate a Hall voltage that can be measured to further derive the value of the under-measured current.
  • the process of the sun tracking method depicted in FIG. 3B comprises the steps as follow.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to further drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device is sensed directly without in cooperation with the switching behavior of the power unit of the maximum power tracking control device and recorded by using the short-circuit current sensing device at a moment when the switch power unit forms a closed circuit.
  • a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current is calculated with the control unit.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the sun tracking system does not take the maximum power tracking control device 44 into consideration.
  • the sun tracking system in the present embodiment comprises a photovoltaic cell device 41 , an attitude control device 42 , a short-circuit current sensing device 43 , a motor-driving device 45 and a control unit 46 .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 43 in the present embodiment needs not to be coupled with the maximum power tracking control device 44 as in the embodiments shown in FIG. 4A .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 43 at least comprises a switch power unit 431 and a current-sensing circuit unit 432 as shown in FIG. 5 .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 43 is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device 41 .
  • the power unit 431 In normal condition, the power unit 431 is disconnected to the photovoltaic cell device 41 .
  • the power unit 431 starts to switch to be connected and disconnected to the photovoltaic cell device 41 in turn.
  • the frequency of the switch behavior is very high (e.g. over 1000 times per second).
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 43 senses and records the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 at the moment when the switch power unit 431 forms the closed circuit.
  • the process of the sun tracking method depicted in FIG. 3C comprises the steps as follow.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to further drive a motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and the current, voltage or power of the maximum power tracking control device is sensed and recorded by the current, voltage or power sensing device installed in the maximum power tracking control device. It is noted that in order to calculate or measure the power, the current and voltage need be sensed first.
  • a maximum value of the recorded output power is calculated with the control unit.
  • the motor-driving device is droved to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponds to the maximum value of the output power.
  • the sun tracking system does not take the short-circuit current sensing device 43 into consideration.
  • the sun tracking system in the present embodiment comprises a photovoltaic cell device 41 , an attitude control device 42 , a maximum power tracking control device 44 , a motor-driving device 45 and a control unit 46 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 44 is a voltage up adjusting circuit or a voltage up/down adjusting circuit.
  • the maximum power tracking control device 44 comprises a sensing device that senses current, voltage or power in order to calculate or measure the power.
  • step (A) of the sun tracking method of the present disclosure the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 41 , including an azimuth angle and an elevation angle, is changed according to a search rule.
  • the search rule is an AI-based algorithm.
  • the AI-based algorithm can be a conventional algorithm such as, but not limited to, a fuzzy algorithm, an ant algorithm, a Taguchi algorithm or a genetic algorithm. Since these algorithms are conventional, no further detail is discussed here. Please refer to FIG. 6 .
  • FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the search rule of an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • the search rule adapted in step (A) of the sun tracking method of the present disclosure comprises the steps as follow.
  • the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted such that the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device increases from a first specific azimuth angle to a second specific azimuth angle.
  • the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted to a specific azimuth angle corresponding to the maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current or the maximum value of the recorded power.
  • the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted such that the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device increases from a negative angle to a positive angle.
  • the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted to a specific elevation angle corresponding to the maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current or the maximum value of the recorded power.
  • the adjustable range of the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is determined by a location of at least one limit switch of the attitude control device 42 .
  • the adjustable range of the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is determined by a location of at least one limit switch of the attitude control device 42 .
  • a sun tracking system that adapts the sun tracking method of the present disclosure when activated in the morning, a larger area search is made until the sun tracking system of the present disclosure finds the current position of the sun (i.e. the photovoltaic cell device 41 of the sun tracking system faces directly to the sun) since the initial position of the sun is unknown.
  • the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted to a specific elevation angle (e.g. 45 degrees) that is determined by a limit switch (such as an elevation angle limit switch).
  • the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic. cell device 41 is adjusted by moving the photovoltaic cell device 41 in a clockwise direction from a first specific azimuth angle (e.g. 0 degree) to a second specific azimuth angle (e.g. 360 degrees) that are both determined by another limit switch (such as an azimuth angle limit switch). It's noticed that in other embodiments, the photovoltaic cell device 41 can also move in a counterclockwise direction such that the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 gradually decreases.
  • step (A 3 ) the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted to a specific azimuth angle corresponding to a maximum value of the short-circuit current or the maximum value of the recorded power that is recorded during the change of the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 . Afterwards, the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is temporarily fixed.
  • step (A 4 ) the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted such that the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device increases from a negative angle (e.g. ⁇ 80 degrees) to a positive angle (e.g. 80 degrees) that are both determined by yet another limit switch (such as an elevation angle limit switch).
  • the photovoltaic cell device 41 can also move from a positive angle (e.g. 80 degrees) to a negative angle (e.g. ⁇ 80 degrees).
  • the positive and the negative angles can be any angles other than 80 and ⁇ 80 degrees.
  • the positive angle can be 85 degrees
  • the negative angle can be ⁇ 20 degrees.
  • step (A 5 ) the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted to a specific elevation angle corresponding to the maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current or the maximum value of the recorded power. Afterwards, the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is temporarily fixed.
  • the attitude (the azimuth angle and the elevation angle) of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is decided.
  • the photovoltaic cell device 41 faces about directly to the sun.
  • the azimuth angle (such as 0 degree and 360 degrees) and the elevation angle (such as 45 degrees, 80 degrees and ⁇ 80 degrees) described above is relative to a specific reference attitude.
  • the azimuth angle and the elevation angle at the reference attitude is considered to be 0 degree.
  • the reference attitude can be determined by the user in cooperation with the available hardware such as the number and position of the limit switch.
  • FIG. 7 is a flow of a search rule to perform a smaller area search.
  • a smaller area search can be performed in the sun tracking method of the present disclosure. The flow comprises the steps as follows.
  • the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted such that the photovoltaic cell device 41 moves in a clockwise direction to detect whether the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 or the recorded power decreases.
  • the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted such that the photovoltaic cell device 41 moves in a counterclockwise direction to detect whether the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 or the recorded power decreases.
  • the azimuth angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted to another specific azimuth angle corresponding to the maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current or the maximum value of the recorded power.
  • the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted such that the photovoltaic cell device 41 moves in a negative angle direction to detect whether the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 or the recorded power decreases.
  • the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted such that the photovoltaic cell device 41 moves in a positive angle direction to detect whether the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 or the recorded power decreases.
  • the elevation angle of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted to another specific elevation angle corresponding to the maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current or the maximum value of the recorded power.
  • the photovoltaic cell device 41 faces about directly to the sun. Hence, no matter how the azimuth angle (elevation angle) of the photovoltaic cell device 41 is adjusted after the large area search, the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 or the recorded power should decrease because photovoltaic cell device 41 leaves the position that receive the sunlight having the highest intensity.
  • a large area search has to search for every possible direction (ranging 360 degrees of azimuth angle and 160 degrees of elevation angle). Therefore, the precision is often set to be low when the large area search is performed on the short-circuit current sensing device 43 such that the large area search is not time-consuming.
  • step (A 6 ) to step (A 11 ) depicted in FIG. 7 provide a small area search to balance the tradeoff between the precision and the consumed-time. Even the precision of the short-circuit current sensing device 43 or the recorded power is adjusted to the highest level, the time consumed by the small area search can be within an acceptable range due to the small area ranging at most from 5 degrees to ⁇ 5 degrees. After the small area search, the photovoltaic cell device 41 can face to the sun in a direct way with higher precision. Hence, the position of the sun can be tracked with higher precision in the sun tracking method of the present disclosure.
  • the position of the sun changes (by moving in the sky) gradually over time.
  • a predetermined time interval e.g. 1 minutes to 10 minutes
  • the maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current decreases to a certain level (such as 95% of the original maximum value)
  • the position of the sun needs to be tracked again.
  • the sun tracking method of the present disclosure further comprises a step (D) to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 41 according to a search rule after a predetermined time interval to sense and record the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 41 by the short-circuit current sensing device 43 continuously to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 41 such that attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 41 corresponds to the newly-calculated maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the sun tracking method of the present disclosure may further comprises a step (D) to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 41 according to a search rule after a predetermined time interval to sense and record the power of the maximum power tracking control device by the sensing device continuously to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 41 such that attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 41 corresponds to the newly-calculated maximum value of the power.
  • the predetermined time interval described above can be 3 to 10 minutes. Nevertheless, if an instant tracking is needed, the predetermined time interval can be shorten to 1 minute or within 1 minute.
  • the search rule adapted to the sun tracking method of the present disclosure can be a perturbation and observation method (i.e., perturb the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and observe the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell or the output power of the photovoltaic cell to find the attitude corresponding to the maximum short-circuit current or the maximum output power) or an AI (artificial intelligent)-based algorithm (depending on different applications) to find the attitude corresponding to the maximum short-circuit current or the maximum out power when the small area search is performed.
  • a perturbation and observation method i.e., perturb the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device and observe the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell or the output power of the photovoltaic cell to find the attitude corresponding to the maximum short-circuit current or the maximum output power
  • an AI artificial intelligent
  • FIG. 8 is a 3D view of the sun tracking system of an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • the sun tracking system comprises a photovoltaic cell device 81 , an attitude control device 82 , a short-circuit current sensing device 83 , a maximum power tracking control device 84 , a motor-driving device 85 and a control unit 86 .
  • the photovoltaic cell device 81 comprises a plurality of photovoltaic cells 811 .
  • the attitude control device 82 is adapted to the photovoltaic cell device 81 to control the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device 81 to sense a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 84 is coupled to the photovoltaic cell device 81 to track a maximum power of the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the motor-driving device 85 is adapted to the attitude control device 82 to drive a motor of the attitude control device 82 to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the control unit 86 is coupled to the short-circuit current sensing device 83 , the maximum power tracking control device 84 and the motor-driving device 85 .
  • the control unit 86 drives the motor-driving device 85 to further drive the motor of the attitude control device 82 to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 senses and records a short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 81 continuously in cooperation with the switching behavior of the power unit 845 of the maximum power tracking control device 84 when the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 is changing.
  • control unit 86 further calculates a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current to drive the motor-driving device 85 to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 senses the short-circuit current without in cooperation with the switching behavior of the power unit of the maximum power tracking control device.
  • the switch behavior of the switch unit of the short-circuit current sensing device 83 is only performed when the sun-tracking method is used.
  • the frequency of the switch behavior is very high (e.g. over 1000 times per second).
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 senses and records the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 81 at the moment when the switch power unit 831 forms the closed circuit.
  • control unit 86 further calculates a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current to drive the motor-driving device 85 to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 is not presented.
  • the sun-tracking system comprises a photovoltaic cell device 81 , an attitude control device 82 , a maximum power tracking control device 84 , a motor-driving device 85 and a control unit 86 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 84 is a voltage up adjusting circuit or a voltage up/down adjusting circuit and is not limited by the circuit form shown in FIG. 8 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 84 comprises a sensing device that senses current, voltage or power.
  • control unit 86 further calculates a maximum value of the recorded output power to drive the motor-driving device 85 to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 corresponds to the maximum value of the output power.
  • the sun tracking system further comprises a memory (such as a DRAM, not shown) coupled to the control unit 86 to store the values of the short-circuit current each corresponding to a specific attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 . Therefore, besides the sun tracking process, the sun tracking system of the present disclosure can retrieve the stored values that are stored within a specific time interval (such as one day or one week) for subsequent analysis.
  • a memory such as a DRAM, not shown
  • each of the plurality of the photovoltaic cells 811 of the photovoltaic cell device 81 is a general photovoltaic cell, a concentrated photovoltaic cell or a highly concentrated photovoltaic cell.
  • the attitude control device 82 comprises an azimuth angle control unit 821 and an elevation angle control unit 822 .
  • Each of the azimuth angle control unit 821 and the elevation angle control unit 822 comprises a control motor (e.g. a DC motor, an AC synchronous motor or a stepping motor) and a speed reducer to control the attitude (comprising the azimuth angle and the elevation angle) of the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the attitude control device 82 further comprises an azimuth angle limit switch 823 and an elevation angle limit switch 824 to control the displacement distance of the azimuth angle control unit 821 and the elevation angle control unit 822 .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 at least comprises a first switch power unit 831 and a current-sensing circuit unit 832 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 84 comprises a voltage up/down adjusting circuit unit 841 comprising at least an inductor 842 , a capacitor 843 , a diode 844 and a second switch power unit 845 .
  • the photovoltaic cell device 81 , the short-circuit current sensing device 83 and the maximum power tracking control device 84 are set as depicted in FIG. 9 .
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 and the photovoltaic cell device 81 are coupled together while the maximum power tracking control device 84 and the photovoltaic cell device 81 are coupled together on the other end.
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 and the maximum power tracking control device 84 are integrated as a sensing circuit module (not shown) to connect to the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 84 is coupled to a power conditioner (e.g. inverter) 87 and a load 88 to generate an output current to the load 88 .
  • a power conditioner e.g. inverter
  • the first switch power unit 831 in the short-circuit current sensing device 83 and the second switch power unit 845 in the maximum power tracking control device 84 conduct alternatively to alternatively sense and record the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 81 and to track a maximum power of the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the sun tracking method is operated in cooperation with the voltage up/down adjusting procedure for tracking the maximum power of the photovoltaic cell device 81 adapted in the maximum power tracking control device 84 .
  • each of the first switch power unit 831 and the second switch power unit 845 is a MOSFET, a power transistor or an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT).
  • the first switch power unit 831 of the short-circuit current sensing device 83 shown in FIG. 9 is not coupled to the second switch power unit 845 of the photovoltaic cell device 81 .
  • the switch behavior of the first switch power unit 831 of the short-circuit current sensing device 83 is only performed when the sun-tracking method is used.
  • the frequency of the switch behavior is very high (e.g. over 1000 times per second).
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 senses and records the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 81 at the moment when the first switch power unit 831 forms the closed circuit.
  • control unit 86 further calculates a maximum value of the recorded short-circuit current to drive the motor-driving device 85 to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 corresponds to the maximum value of the short-circuit current.
  • the short-circuit current sensing device 83 is not presented.
  • the maximum power tracking control device 84 is a voltage up adjusting circuit or a voltage up/down adjusting circuit and is not limited by the circuit form shown in FIG. 9 .
  • the maximum power tracking control device 84 comprises a sensing device that senses current, voltage or power.
  • the control unit 86 further calculates a maximum value of the recorded output power to drive the motor-driving device 85 to modulate the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 such that the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 corresponds to the maximum value of the output power.
  • the current-sensing circuit unit 832 of the short-circuit current sensing device 83 sense the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device 81 by a resistive measurement method, a Hall effect measurement method or a CT method.
  • the advantage of the resistive measurement method is that it is simple and is suitable for both AC and DC. The disadvantage includes low output voltage, large insertion loss and difficulty of the insulation from the current.
  • the CT method is to make the under-test wire pass through a magnetic path.
  • a magnetic filed B is generated due to the presence of the current I 0 in the magnetic path to further induce an induced current at the coil on the magnetic path.
  • the resistive measurement method described above can further be used to measure the value of the induced current.
  • the difference between the CT method and the resistive measurement method is that there is no resistor directly coupled to the current I 0 during the measurement of the induced current.
  • the advantage of the CT method includes wider range of application, larger output voltage and the great quality of insulation from the current.
  • the Hall effect measurement method is similar to the CT method that makes use of the magnetic field of the magnetic path generated by the presence of the under-measured current.
  • the difference between the Hall effect measurement method and the CT method is that a space is presented in the magnetic path when the Hall effect measurement method is adapted to dispose a Hall element in said space.
  • the generated magnetic field makes the Hall element generate a Hall voltage that can be measured to further derive the value of the under-measured current.
  • the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 81 is changed according to a search rule.
  • the search rule is an AI-based algorithm.
  • the AI-based algorithm can be a conventional algorithm such as, but not limited to, a fuzzy algorithm, an ant algorithm, a Taguchi algorithm or a genetic algorithm. Since these algorithms are conventional, no further detail is discussed here.
  • the short-circuit current or the output power sensing method in the present disclosure can be used to track the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device that generates the maximum output power and record the difference values of the azimuth angle and the elevation angle as a reference to calibrate the light sensors during the initial setting or after the light sensors are used.
  • the method disclosed in the present disclosure can also be performed in cooperation with the conventional tracking method that uses light sensors.
  • the conventional tracking method that uses light sensors can be performed to accomplish a rough tracking first and the sun-tracking method of the present disclosure can be used to accomplish a precise tracking later.
  • the values of the P-V characteristic curve of the photovoltaic cell device decrease a lot.
  • the output current or the output power decreases a lot. Accordingly, whether the sensed short-circuit current or the output power is lower than a certain fixed value is determined first.
  • the process of the sun-tracking method of the present disclosure is ceased. Once the short-circuit current or the output power is sensed to be higher than the fixed value, the process of the sun-tracking method of the present disclosure is started again.
  • the method disclosed in the present disclosure can also be performed in cooperation with the conventional tracking method that uses solar orbit function.
  • the conventional tracking method that uses sun-tracking solar orbit function can use a simple solar orbit function to accomplish a rough tracking first. It is noted that a complex solar orbit function need be implemented in a computer or a PLC but a simple solar orbit function can be implemented in a microprocessor. Afterwards, the sun-tracking method of the present disclosure can be used to accomplish a precise tracking. Furthermore, when clouds block the photovoltaic cell device, the current and the output power is lower than a fixed value. When the short-circuit current or the output power is lower than the fixed value, the process of the sun-tracking method of the present disclosure is ceased and the conventional tracking method that uses solar orbit function can be applied to track the sun. Once the short-circuit current and the output power is sensed to be higher than the fixed value, the process of the sun-tracking method of the present disclosure is started again.
  • the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device or the output power varies when the illumination of the light received by the photovoltaic cell device changes (i.e. the value of the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device or the value of the output power corresponds to the illumination of the light received by the photovoltaic cell device).
  • the sun tracking method of the present disclosure keeps monitoring the variation of the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell device or the output power adapted in the sun tracking system of the present disclosure to make the control unit drive the motor-driving device to further drive the motor of the attitude control device to change the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device until the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device corresponding to the largest short-circuit current is reached.
  • the attitude corresponding to the largest short-circuit current or the maximum output power is the attitude that can receive the highest illumination of the sunlight.
  • the sun tracking method of the present disclosure makes the sun tracking system of the present disclosure track the sun continuously and switches its position to the attitude that can receive the highest illumination of the sunlight without additional light sensors, calculation of the solar orbit function, regular calibration of the mechanical structure of the sun tracking system regularly or precise initial installation of the sun tracking system.

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